


Need a Break

by killerweasel



Series: Eighty-Eight Keys [2]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-25
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-26 10:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1684313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you just need to let everything fade into the background for a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Need a Break

Title: Need a Break  
Fandom: _Pacific Rim_  
Characters: Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb, Chuck Hansen  
Word Count: 1,265  
Rating: PG-13  
A/N: AU before the events of _Pacific Rim_  
Warnings: n/a  
Summary: Sometimes you just need to let everything fade into the background for a while.

 

 

Newt snuck into the kitchen, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one else was around. He'd already been caught snitching food twice in the last six months and didn't want to have the Marshall yell at him again. He wasn't the only one who had done it, quite frankly the sneaking was Tendo's fault for mentioning the cookie stash in the first place, but he was the only one who had been found out.

As he rounded the corner, Newt heard an odd sound. It sounded like something was hitting into a hard surface. He debated on just turning around and leaving without finding the source. He crept closer, peering into the kitchen itself. What he saw made him freeze. Chuck Hansen was repeatedly smashing his hand into the wall.

"Hey! Knock that off before you hurt yourself." Newt's feet were moving along with his mouth and he found himself behind Chuck. He tapped the younger man on the shoulder. "I said cut it out!"

Chuck whirled around, arm lashing out before he even registered who was there. Newt almost managed to dodge the blow. Chuck's fist caught the edge of Newt's left cheekbone, sending his glasses tumbling to the floor. Newt staggered backwards as an impressive amount of swearing came from his lips.

"Newt? Shit. I'm sorry. Shit!" Chuck looked horrified. He started to move in Newt's direction, possibly to help the smaller man straighten up, and Newt held a hand out.

"How about you stay over there for a second while I try to figure out if you broke my face, asshole?" He prodded his cheek gingerly while moving his mouth. Then Newt ran his tongue over his teeth, making sure nothing was loose. Everything seemed okay. His face hurt like a son of a bitch, but that was to be expected when someone got punched by a Ranger. "What the hell's the matter with you, dude?" Newt squinted at the floor. "Can you hand me my glasses? I don't want to step on them. That's my spare pair."

"Yeah, hang on." Chuck grabbed the glasses from where they'd fallen, holding them out to Newt. "Sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"You thought I was someone else. Have you seen me? Have you seen everyone else?" Newt slipped his glasses back on, bringing everything back into focus again. He looked around the room. Pots and pans were all over the floor. "The cooks are going to kill you for making such a mess in here. Not to mention you punched a damn hole in the wall."

"I was going to clean it up." Chuck looked at the hole. "And then hide that." He winced as he flexed his fingers. Most of his knuckles were torn open and his hand ached.

"I'm going to make a wild guess here. You and your dad had another one of your screaming fights that puts mine and Herman's to shame, right? And instead of knocking his head off, you came to the kitchen to beat up the wall?" Newt sighed at the look on Chuck's face. "I saw your dad on my way down here. He looked angrier than usual."

Chuck suddenly looked younger than he was. He slumped back against the wall and gradually sank down to the floor until he was sitting down. "Same old, same old."

"I gotta ask, what is it with you two? You guys are always at each other's throats." Newt walked over to where Chuck was and sat next to him. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Let me see your hand."

"I could ask you the same thing. There are stories about your epic shouting matches with Hermann." He held his damaged hand out for Newt to inspect. "Me and my old man... it's complicated. We've been in one another's heads too many times. Can't keep anything hidden anymore."

"I knew Hermann before we started working together. And yeah, we can drive each other crazy, which sometimes involves screaming matches of epic proportions. But somewhere along the line, it changed. While we still go at it from time to time, the need to eviscerate each other with words kinda vanished." The corners of Newt's mouth twitch. "Most of the time, anyway."

"I'm just... tired, Newt." Chuck sighed. "I know you're feeling it too. The pressure of everything weighing down on your shoulders. We're running out of time, people, and resources. We can't rest."

"I get that. It's just me and Hermann now. The two of us are doing the jobs of forty people." He gently manipulated Chuck's fingers, checking to see if anything was broken. "Make a fist, but don't punch me this time." Chuck snorted. "I was actually here to get my usual two in the morning snack. I know where they hide the cookies."

"Come to the PPDC. We have cookies."

Newt cracked up. "How do you even know that? You're at least a decade younger than I am."

"There's thing magical thing known as The Internet." Chuck hissed under his breath when Newt got to the knuckle on his index finger. "Did I break anything?"

"I don't think do. Can't be completely sure without an x-ray, but I don't think you want to go and explain what you did over in medical." Newt pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the blood from his fingers. "Look, next time you get that angry, don't take it out on a wall. Go down to the gym and beat the crap out of something. I'd offer to spar with you, but you would wipe the floor with me faster than I could blink."

"Probably faster than that." Chuck smiled before looking serious. "What do you do when you want to forget everything for a while?"

Newt glanced around, as if he were about to tell some huge secret. "Don't tell anyone, but there's a piano in the lab."

"What?"

"A piano. Hermann smuggled it in ages ago. Don't ask how because he refuses to give me details." Newt nudged Chuck with his shoulder. "I'll help you clean this mess up if you come back with me to the lab. Hermann's still doing his thing, but I think he'll be cool with you sticking around for a bit. I'll bring him a couple cookies. That usually works. And I'll take care of your hand so you don't have to go to medical." Chuck started to say something and Newt shook his head. "Look, it'll be the last place your dad would look for you."

"Fine, but I want a couple cookies too." Chuck got to his feet slowly and then held out his uninjured hand to Newt. "Can you actually play this piano of yours?"

Newt scoffed. "Dude, I've been playing longer than you've been alive."

\---

Hermann didn't question Chuck's presence. He'd seen the colorful bruise on Newt's cheek and watched Newt take care of the cuts on Chuck's hand. Newt would tell him what had happened later. He snagged himself an oatmeal raisin cookie and smiled after taking a huge bite.

Newt shoved an entire chocolate chip cookie into his mouth before wandering over to the piano. He loosened his shoulders, flexed his fingers, and then sat down. After a moment, he played 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' for a warm up. He took a deep breath and began to play 'The Piano Man', singing along with the words. By the chorus, two other voices had joined his. For a while, everything else faded into the background.


End file.
